Floating cover for oil tanks



July 13,1926. 1,592,524

FLOATING COVER FQR/OIL 'm'ms Filed May 13, 1925 a zz ii i 1|? II II Ill/II 11 II II III/I I l l Patented July 13, 1926.

1,592,524 PATENT OFFICE.

UNITED STATES AI|BEBT I. HOLT, pr MITSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA.

ILOATQDI' COVER FOR OIL TANKS.

Application filed Kay 18, 1925. Serial No. 80,021.

This invention relates to oil tanks and one object of the invention is to provide an improved cover which is so constructed. that it may be slidably placed in an oil tank and float uplon the surface of oil contained in the tank, t e cover not only serving to prevent excessive loss of oil by evaporation but alsov serving to prevent danger of the oil'being set on fire. w

Another object of the inventiomis to so construct the floating cover that a sampling tube may be passed through the cover in order to obtain samples of the oil in the tank.

Another object of the inveniton is to provide guide means adapted to hold; thecover in the proper positionto slide vertically-in vthe tank without binding and to permit'oil to be fed into the tank through the guid means if so desired.

Another object of the invention is to St construct the guide means that the oil which passes into the tank through the guide means may pass from the guide means close to the bottom of the tank and thereby prevent water which may be in the oil from becoming mixed with the main body of the oil in the tank.

' panying drawing, wherein This inventionis illustrated in the accom- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a tank provided with the improved cover, and

Fig.2 is a horizontal sectional view takeii through the tank on the line 22 of Fig. 1. The tank 1 is an ordina'rytank such as are commonly used in oil fields for thestorage of crude or refined oil. The tank is cylindrical in shape and provided with an outlet valve 2 near its bottom 3. It may be of any height and of any diameter desired "and is open at its upper end. When oil is stored in the tanks, there is. ordinarily no cover provided and the oil, therefore, rapidly evaporates and further is not only exposed to danger of fire in case a nearby building should catch fire but is also liable to be ignited by lightning. There has, therefore, been provided an improved cover which will serve to protect the oil from evaporation and exposure to fire.

The cover 4. which is of a buoyant construction is formed of heavy sheet metal and provided with a bottom 5, an annular wall- 6 and a top 7 which in the preierred form is conical. Tubes '8 and 9 extend vertically through the cover. and provide sleevesto receive hollow guide rods 10. The guide rods.

carried thereby will be spaced the proper distance from each other and the guides 10 carried by pins ll'may be readilypassed through the sleeves 8 and 9. It should also be noted that, when the tank is emptied and the cover andtubes 10 removed, the plate 12 may be drawn upwardly out of the tank and will carry with it sediment which may have accumulated in the bottom of the tank. Oil tanks are nearly all of the same diameter but they vary in height and in order to use the improved cover in connection with a tank having a diameter into which the plate .12 and cover 4 will fit it is merely necessary to provide tubes or pipe 10 of the proper length to extend from the bottom of the- .tank up to the open upper end ofthe tank. While there has been shown two guide tubesin the drawing, it will be obvious that additional tubes may be provided if desired. It will also be obvious that even only two of the pipes or tubes are made use of additional sleeves 8 may be provided in spaced relation to each other about the cover so that the cover will be reinforced and prevented from collapsing. The sleeve 9 instead of passing through the body of the cover is disposed in a well 13 which is formed in the cover so that a samphng tube may be passed throughthis well and downwardly into the tank in order to remove asample of oil from the tank. A cover plate 14 is provided for the open upper end of the well 13 and pivotally secured to the upper wall or head of the float by means of a rivet or other suitable fastener 15 which passes through an ear'16 of the cover. A handle 17 is carried by the cover plate so that it may be easily swunginto and out of a closedtposition and a recess 18 is provided in the cover plate so that, when closed,

it may fit about the pipe which passesthrough the sleeve 9.

When the cover is'installed, the base plate 12 which carries the pins 11 is first put in place and the pipes 10 will then bepassed downwardly in the tank and seated upon the pins. The cover, which is very heavy, will then be engaged by grapples which hook into the handles 19 and the cover lowered into the tank with the pipes passing through the sleeves 8 and 9. Of course, if desired, the cover maybe put in place before the pipes, in which case the cover would be lowered so that the pins project through the lar pipe could be connected with the pipe 10 which passes through the sleeve 8. By having the oil fed into the tank through a pipe 10, it is led to a point adjacent the bottom of the tank and, therefore, there will be no splashing of oil and there will be no anger of water which sometimes passes out of a well with the oil becoming thoroughly mixed with the oil in the tank and causing an, emulsion to be formed which would render the oil useless. It will also be obvious that, if desired, the cover 14 may be swung to an open position anl afeed pipe extended through the well 13 to the bottom of the tank in order to feed oil into the tank.-

The cover. floats upon the surface of the oil the tank and since it fits snugly in the tank it will cover practically the entire surface of the oil and not only prevent quick evaporation of the oil but also protect the oil from danger of being ignited by fire. While it has been stated that the cover will be used in connection with a tank in which oil is stored, it will be obvious that it could be used equally well in connection with tanks containing other fluids and prevent them from q uickly evaporating or igniting;

Having thus described the invention, I claim: 7

1. A receptacle open at its upper end, a float fitting snugly ,within said receptacle for vertical sliding movement, a base plate resting upon the bottom 'of said-receptacle, pins extending upwardly from said base plate, and hollow guide bars removably carried by said pins and extending upwardly through said float and provided with outlets adjacent their lower ends. a

2. A receptacle open at its upper end, a hollow float fitting snugly, within said receptacle for vertical sliding movement, vsaid float having its bottom provided with an opening and its/head with an opening above the opening in the bottom, a sleeve connecting said openings and pro viding a well through the float to permit access to the contents of the receptacle beneath the float, guide sleeves passing through said float, one sleeve being located within said well, guide tubes extending upwardly from the bottom. of said .receptacle and projecting through said guide sleeves, and a cover movably connected with the head of said float and adapted to be movedinto and out of closing relation to the upper end of said well.

3. A receptacle, a float snugly fitting within said receptacle forvertical sliding movement, a base plate resting upon the bottom 01' said receptacle and covering substantially the entire surface thereof, said plate being removable from the receptacle when the float is removed, and guides all carried by and extendin upwardly from said base and projecting t rough said float to guide sliding movement of the float.

.In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ALBERT J. HOLT. [n 5.] 

